The Village - Page 3

mpp · 08-02-2004, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Debaser

sixth sense>signs>unbreakable>the village

unbreakable>the village>sixth sense>signs

mpp · 08-02-2004, 09:00 AM

It's been a while since people have been split right down the middle concerning a film. It's neat to see so many people on this messageboard, even, feel cheated and so many feel like it was an incredible movie.

I'm certainly in the latter group. I felt like the whole thing was a perfect allegory and a post 9/11 parable. I even thought the color-coding was badass and I loved that the leader's name was "Walker," as in Dubya.

The meaning was simple: We don't like things so we're going to isolate ourselves, it's as true in 1897 as it is in 2004. Things are too scary and unpredictable in the real world, so we're going to isolate ourselves from things we don't like instead of confronting them.

In addition to that, the scene in woods with Ivy and the monster was one of the scariest scenes of recent memory. I couldn't sleep.

I thought Brody, Howard and Phoenix were all great. THe scene with Brody and Phoenix was one of the best of the year. The love scene was great, too.

Ebert & Roeper at the movies gave two completely different reviews of the film. Reviews were split right down the middle, just like the country is today.

BlueStar · 08-02-2004, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mpp

I'm certainly in the latter group. I felt like the whole thing was a perfect allegory and a post 9/11 parable. I even thought the color-coding was badass and I loved that the leader's name was "Walker," as in Dubya.

The meaning was simple: We don't like things so we're going to isolate ourselves, it's as true in 1897 as it is in 2004. Things are too scary and unpredictable in the real world, so we're going to isolate ourselves from things we don't like instead of confronting them.

I thought Brody, Howard and Phoenix were all great. THe scene with Brody and Phoenix was one of the best of the year. The love scene was great, too.

I never even thought of it that way...in terms of post 9/11.

I found it interesting that instead of being all "let's go back to the way things were and live that way", they literally tried to turn back the clock and decided to have their year be 1879 (or was is 1897?).

And I definitely liked the whole theme of escapism. And the use of color. And how the monsters were used as a way of controling the masses. And the whole money = the root of all evil thing and hope thing.

I definitely agree that Brody, Howard, and Phoenix were amazing.

I loved the way the scene where Ivy is reaching out her hand and the scene where Phoenix's character is stabbed were shot...I liked how it was almost slow motion.

silent1 · 08-02-2004, 09:32 AM

DUMBEST MOVIE EVER. i knew exactly what was going to happen since i first saw the previews. completely predictable and just stupid. it insults my intelligence.

sawdust restaurants · 08-02-2004, 11:14 AM

Also: The cast was pretty good, but I don't see what anybody took out of Adrien Brody following up his note-perfect performance in The Pianist by, essentially, howling like a drunk bluesman and flopping around like a fish out of water.

mpp · 08-02-2004, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueStar

I loved the way the scene where Ivy is reaching out her hand and the scene where Phoenix's character is stabbed were shot...I liked how it was almost slow motion.

Those scenes exemplify Shymalan's brilliance as a director. Either that, or he's got me fooled. I was captivated.

The "Try your very best not to scream" line was so fucking chilling.

Also, the way the monster ran at Ivy in the Woods was terrifying. I bet I was white as a sheet.

mpp · 08-02-2004, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sawdust restaurants
Also: The cast was pretty good, but I don't see what anybody took out of Adrien Brody following up his note-perfect performance in The Pianist by, essentially, howling like a drunk bluesman and flopping around like a fish out of water.

He exemplified how the town could NOT control everything. He was unpredictable and totally out of it. He exemplified perfectly, I thought, how the most base parts of human nature could not be controlled even by returning to a "simpler" way of life.

sawdust restaurants · 08-02-2004, 11:26 AM

Perhaps, but there are better, more subtle ways to go about showing that than beating it over the viewer's head with a thoroughly unrealistic character.

mpp · 08-02-2004, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sawdust restaurants
more subtle ways

There are more subtle ways of doing it, but I don't think subtlety is what he was going for.

Brody's character was borderline evil, in my opinion. Did you get that at all?

Further, the way the end of the Phoenix/Brody scene was shot was amazing.

mpp · 08-02-2004, 11:31 AM

Sawdust, Another thing I didn't get was "what the hell was he trying to accomplish in the woods?"

was he trying to kill her? get her to come back to the village? what?

sawdust restaurants · 08-02-2004, 11:36 AM

I didn't get that borderline evil thing at all. I just figured that due to his retardation, he wasn't aware enough to recognize that what he was doing is wrong. So I think he was just fucking around with Ivy in the woods because he didn't know any better and was just looking for a joke.

And I guess I had a problem with the fact that he wasn't going for subtlety. It just seemed like another long, tedious strike in the shouting matches between left and right.

BlueStar · 08-02-2004, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mpp
Sawdust, Another thing I didn't get was "what the hell was he trying to accomplish in the woods?"

was he trying to kill her? get her to come back to the village? what?

Same here. I didn't get it. However, I kinda assumed that he was trying to kill her. And how did he know that she was in the woods? He was locked away and completely out of the loop when all that happened.

Oblivious · 08-02-2004, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by cowbite
The dangling microphone in the scene near the end was distracting.

really.

and there was a scene where you could see a camera man kneeling down in the distance.

i predicted the ending not even ten minutes into it and i thought that overall it was pretty unimpressive.

yo soy el mejor · 08-02-2004, 12:11 PM

why was ivy told not to scream anyway?

Geek USA · 08-02-2004, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by yo soy el mejor
why was ivy told not to scream anyway?

so people wouldn't hear?!

silent1 · 08-02-2004, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by yo soy el mejor
why was ivy told not to scream anyway?

because she's blind.

mpp · 08-02-2004, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueStar
He was locked away and completely out of the loop when all that happened.

there may be something more to it

maybe i should check imdb...i'm really curious now

mpp · 08-02-2004, 01:57 PM

one more post 9/11 thing to chew on: the adults in the village were terrorists and the children were the victims of terrorism

BlueStar · 08-02-2004, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mpp

there may be something more to it

maybe i should check imdb...i'm really curious now

I almost felt like some stuff was cut out there. And/or there was much more to the character than initially recognizable.

D. · 08-02-2004, 02:13 PM

i fucking hated the village, are you kidding me?

mpp · 08-02-2004, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueStar

And/or there was much more to the character than initially recognizable.

this is what i'm leaning toward

i almost got an "evil" feeling from him

silent1 · 08-02-2004, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mpp

this is what i'm leaning toward

i almost got an "evil" feeling from him

i got a "retard" feel from him.

Bobbin TB · 08-02-2004, 02:17 PM

i loved it. i always love his movies.

mpp · 08-02-2004, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by silent1

i got a "retard" feel from him.

it almost seemed like he wanted those we do not speak of to come and fuck everybody up

then he stabbed that motherfucker

then he tried to kill ivy

i mean, that's bad news

BlueStar · 08-02-2004, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mpp

this is what i'm leaning toward

i almost got an "evil" feeling from him

And he was the one who was going into the woods and picking the "bad color" berries that he kept in his pocket. bad color = red = evil He was what they were trying to escape by leaving "the towns" and starting this new community. But yet, evil/crime follows you everywhere...it is part of human nature/inheritent in nature.

I liked too how it drew upon fairytales. Not the Disney kind, but the true kind. The kind that were meant to teach children lessons/how to behave. i.e. Hansel and Gretal

And I found myself drawing comparisons between court cases where the parents were refusing to get their child medical help (for religious reasons) and how the little boy died at the beginning, Ivy went blind, etc. all because they were determined to reject modern civilization.

mpp · 08-02-2004, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueStar

And he was the one who was going into the woods and picking the "bad color" berries

But yet, evil/crime follows you everywhere...it is part of human nature/inheritent in nature.

I liked too how it drew upon fairytales.

all because they were determined to reject modern civilization.

yes to all of these; there's much more to the movie than just the twists

BlueStar · 08-02-2004, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mpp

there's much more to the movie than just the twists

Exactly. Which is why I liked this movie so much. It was like back in high school when I would read a really good short story or novel and I couldn't wait to go to class the next day and dissect it all and talk about all the different themes and symbolism and whatnot.

Sepiae · 08-02-2004, 02:55 PM

I don't think Brody was supposed to be evil. I think he was a representation of horror coming in all forms. You expect evil and pain to come from certain sources. But no matter how much you try to shut out the sources, there are things that are out of your control. There are people who will not follow the rules, not because they are evil, but because the rules don't mean the same thing to them.

And his acting was amazing in that part. My theatre group did The Elephant Man last spring, and there's this group of women called the Pinheads who I guess are similar characters. They were painful to watch. He was not. I think he took his small amount of dialogue and what could have been a big cliche and created a layered character. It seemed like in certain situations he knew more than anyone gave him credit for and in others, less.

Bobbin TB · 08-02-2004, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mpp

it almost seemed like he wanted those we do not speak of to come and fuck everybody up

then he stabbed that motherfucker

then he tried to kill ivy

i mean, that's bad news

i dont think he tried to kill ivy. he was just playing. he tought it was funny.

mpp · 08-02-2004, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bobbin TB

i dont think he tried to kill ivy. he was just playing. he tought it was funny.

you mean after she came in and smacked him so hard and he almost went totally crazy, beating down the door?

i don't think he thought it was funny at all

08-02-2004, 02:13 PM	#80
D. Consume my pants. Location: Missouri Posts: 36,063	i fucking hated the village, are you kidding me? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

08-02-2004, 09:00 AM	#62
mpp Minion of Satan Posts: 7,577	It's been a while since people have been split right down the middle concerning a film. It's neat to see so many people on this messageboard, even, feel cheated and so many feel like it was an incredible movie. I'm certainly in the latter group. I felt like the whole thing was a perfect allegory and a post 9/11 parable. I even thought the color-coding was badass and I loved that the leader's name was "Walker," as in Dubya. The meaning was simple: We don't like things so we're going to isolate ourselves, it's as true in 1897 as it is in 2004. Things are too scary and unpredictable in the real world, so we're going to isolate ourselves from things we don't like instead of confronting them. In addition to that, the scene in woods with Ivy and the monster was one of the scariest scenes of recent memory. I couldn't sleep. I thought Brody, Howard and Phoenix were all great. THe scene with Brody and Phoenix was one of the best of the year. The love scene was great, too. Ebert & Roeper at the movies gave two completely different reviews of the film. Reviews were split right down the middle, just like the country is today.

08-02-2004, 09:32 AM	#64
silent1 Minion of Satan Location: detroit, mi Posts: 7,158	DUMBEST MOVIE EVER. i knew exactly what was going to happen since i first saw the previews. completely predictable and just stupid. it insults my intelligence.

08-02-2004, 11:14 AM	#65
sawdust restaurants Fucking Creep Location: On the East Coast Posts: 5,992	Also: The cast was pretty good, but I don't see what anybody took out of Adrien Brody following up his note-perfect performance in The Pianist by, essentially, howling like a drunk bluesman and flopping around like a fish out of water.

08-02-2004, 11:26 AM	#68
sawdust restaurants Fucking Creep Location: On the East Coast Posts: 5,992	Perhaps, but there are better, more subtle ways to go about showing that than beating it over the viewer's head with a thoroughly unrealistic character.

08-02-2004, 11:31 AM	#70
mpp Minion of Satan Posts: 7,577	Sawdust, Another thing I didn't get was "what the hell was he trying to accomplish in the woods?" was he trying to kill her? get her to come back to the village? what?

08-02-2004, 11:36 AM	#71
sawdust restaurants Fucking Creep Location: On the East Coast Posts: 5,992	I didn't get that borderline evil thing at all. I just figured that due to his retardation, he wasn't aware enough to recognize that what he was doing is wrong. So I think he was just fucking around with Ivy in the woods because he didn't know any better and was just looking for a joke. And I guess I had a problem with the fact that he wasn't going for subtlety. It just seemed like another long, tedious strike in the shouting matches between left and right.

08-02-2004, 12:11 PM	#74
yo soy el mejor Banned Location: all over the Internet Posts: 43,693	why was ivy told not to scream anyway?

08-02-2004, 01:57 PM	#78
mpp Minion of Satan Posts: 7,577	one more post 9/11 thing to chew on: the adults in the village were terrorists and the children were the victims of terrorism

08-02-2004, 02:17 PM	#83
Bobbin TB Apocalyptic Poster Location: Pocatello, Idaho Posts: 1,525	i loved it. i always love his movies.

08-02-2004, 02:55 PM	#88
Sepiae is a modern day sex camel Location: Boston, baby Posts: 7,662	I don't think Brody was supposed to be evil. I think he was a representation of horror coming in all forms. You expect evil and pain to come from certain sources. But no matter how much you try to shut out the sources, there are things that are out of your control. There are people who will not follow the rules, not because they are evil, but because the rules don't mean the same thing to them. And his acting was amazing in that part. My theatre group did The Elephant Man last spring, and there's this group of women called the Pinheads who I guess are similar characters. They were painful to watch. He was not. I think he took his small amount of dialogue and what could have been a big cliche and created a layered character. It seemed like in certain situations he knew more than anyone gave him credit for and in others, less.